...The Vietnam War was a war to bring South Vietnam into communist order from North Vietnam. But, the United States involved itself in the war. America involved itself in the Vietnam War to help save South Vietnam’s freedom as well as stop communism from spreading. But due to this decision, it greatly changed America and impacted the American society in many ways. In 1965, President Truman believed that the United States should support the policy to help free people trying to resist control from armed minorities or outside pressures. The United States demonstrated this policy by trying to defend South Vietnam from North Vietnam. (Doc 1) Also, America involved itself with War because a national pledge from President Johnson was made to help defend South Vietnam’s freedom. This is because every American President since 1954 has offered help to South Vietnam and President Johnson intended to keep that promise. (Doc 3)...
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...Abstract This paper discusses how the Vietnam Conflict impacted American society. The topics explored involve how the U.S. was affected socially, economically, and politically. Impact of Vietnam Conflict on American Society The enormity of the damage caused by the Vietnam Conflict is still felt in American society today. While public attitude toward Vietnam Veterans is changing, and faith in the military has returned, there is still a lot of skepticism toward the U.S. Federal Government. Americans don’t want to send their sons and daughters into another seemingly pointless war. One of the major consequences on U.S. society created by the Vietnam Conflict was the enormous strain on the American economy, due to the estimated $167 billion spent on the war. Inflation and increasing federal debt had a major negative effect on the US economy and seriously lowered living standards from the late 1960’s until the 1990’s. Another consequence on society was the public rejection of the war and the soldiers who fought in it. Vietnam vets were considered vicious killers, immoral human beings, drug addicts; they were treated like the lowest form of human existence ("Cold war in," 2011). The Vietnam conflict was a viewed as a devastating loss and resulted in a loss of pride and self- confidence in the American people. The U.S. experienced a reappraisal of American power and glory. At the beginning of the war the American public supported it, because they believed it was part...
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...1960s and the West On the Tiger’s Back: The Vietnam War History written by the Americans – therefore it is one sided. Also with films – they are not accurate because they are told from the side of the defeaters. Forrest Gump – potted history of post-War America. Highly politicised film. Portrays Vietnam in very particular ways. Vietnamese do not appear in this film. They are absent. Not the only film that you can say that about. Good Morning Vietnam is the one film where Vietnamese feature strongly. American films – Americans feature strongly, not the Vietnamese. This is a familiar trope in Vietnam film. History by the defeated. America is still grappling with this film. Film was controversial when it came. Filtered through Reagan-ite, neo-conservative lens. 60s to blame for subsequent American problems. Central premise of the film – he does whatever he is told throughout the film, and reaps the awards at the end. Achieves the American Dream. He doesn’t ask questions. Undemocratic approach to the world. Robert McNamara, McGeorge Bundy * Bodies, asymmetric war. * War of attrition. * Vietnamese see this as a Civil War – but Americans see this as a Cold War conflict. * They are not fighting the war that they think they’re fighting. * Flexible response. * Dean Rusk, Secretary of State – anti-appeasement philosophy. Advocate of strategic bombing to weaken the enemy, but this does not work. Often ignored by Johnson, fairly marginal figure...
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...The Vietnam War between USA with South Vietnam and North Vietnam with Viet Cong had lasted about 10 years and had many significant consequences. Therefore, it’s one of the most important wars in the recent years and has possessed many resonances so far. It is an unforgettable war for the USA because it has unexpectedly lost the war. The USA has lost the war against a fragile,undeveloped country which is North Vietnam. USA has lost the war against a fragile,undeveloped country which is North Vietnam. There has been a lot of controversies about this war so far. These controversies are concentrated on the moral dimension of the war. In other words, the experts and the analysts are concerned about whether this war is just or not. The Vietnam War can’t be considered as just war when we evaluate it with the aid of the Jus Ad Bellum critters. It doesn’t meet the 6 critters such as just cause, comparative justice, legitimate authority, right intention, probability of success and last resort. First of all, the USA doesn’t have a just cause to declare a war against North Vietnam and Viet Cong. In this war, USA struggles against communism and wants to terminate the so-called dangerous activities of the North Vietnam and Viet Cong founded by Ho Min Cinh in South Vietnam. USA doesn’t correct a suffered wrong here although it regards communism as great public evil. Western countries which adopt liberalism disapprove communism and they think that communism have to be removed. In this war, USA...
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...Dominic Rycraft HUMN 303H Professor McCarthy February 20, 2015 A Broken Union The American Dream is the ideal that every US citizen should have an equal opportunity to achieve success and prosperity through hard work, determination, and initiative. Many say that they have now made that dream a reality. In the early 50’s this wasn’t the case, we still had that dream but many obstacles to get through to achieve that dream. During this time America will be put through strain and heartache to prosper and become the country that many look toward for freedom. The 50’s were a time where we had to take a step back and reanalyze because of the Civil Rights Movement and the Vietnam War. These two major events that happened in America may have shaped us in the wrong way. During this time in America, we were divided as a whole. It wasn’t one country but two, not by where you lived but rather by your skin color. If you were born with the wrong skin color you would be penalized for this. “Although African Americans’ subjugation holds a special place in U.S. history, they were by no means the only important group facing severe marginalization during the 1950s and since. Native Americans as well as Latinos and Latinas were subject to systematic racial discrimination, dispossession of property, and hate crimes.” (Super, 2014) America was a dark place if you weren’t white and that held us back as a nation. To end racial segregation and discrimination against black Americans, the African-American...
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...The Vietnam War was a war in which two major power country, US and Soviet Union, who were the power holders of what events were to take place in Vietnam and the other neighboring countries around Vietnam. The battle between the two was mainly over political because of the split of Vietnam and the rise of power on the communist side as North Vietnam tried to form a communist country by forcefully reuniting South Vietnam with the help of the Soviet Union. After the French lost power over Vietnam and left Vietnam, there was a power vacuum that resulted to the war. Due to the terrain of Vietnam being a jungle, the US was having many difficulties preventing Soviet and China, Soviets’ ally, from sending in weapons to arm North Vietnamese...
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...1975, South Vietnam was under attack by the North Vietnamese (Document 3). The principle of the war was for Vietnam to decide between two types governments; Democracy or Communism. In the duration of the war, seventeen of the twenty years was fought by averse Americans. Yet, due to the insistence of the Executive Branch and the policy of Containment, the United States was conscripted into the war. This greatly impacted American foreign policy, and furthermore, the American society.United States involvement in the Vietnam War was based mostly on government insistence. United States President, Harry Truman, in his address to Congress about his Doctrine, claimed that "it must be the policy of the United States to support free people who are resisting attempted subjugation by armed...
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...Running head: VIETNAM Vietnam: Its Impact and Lessons Learned . Prof. Carol Scott Contemporary International Problems – POL300 March 14, 2010 Vietnam: Its Impact and Lessons Learned Introduction The Vietnam War, also known as the Vietnam Conflict and the Second Indochina War to most was considered brutal and unwarranted; it did not accomplish anything and caused a massive death toll. This war was fought between the communist North Vietnam and the government of South Vietnam. Communist North Vietnam was supported by its communist allies while South Vietnam was supported by the United States and the other nations that were against communist. This was a war fought with the use of guerrilla warfare on hostile soil with an enemy, known as the Viet Cong. Guerrilla warfare is combat in which a small group of combatants use mobile military tactics in the form of ambushes and raids to combat a larger and less mobile formal army. The Viet Cong used anything at their disposal to stop the United States from changing their way of life/religion. The Viet Cong was a lightly armed South Vietnamese communist controlled coalition. This made it impossible for anyone to benefit from an invasion of this country. The warfare used played a major role in the outcome of this war. The United States entered the war to prevent the takeover of South Vietnam and the spread of communism in that area. The impact has placed a tremendous hardship on the returning soldiers and the...
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...The Vietnam War was the war that most young Americans in the United States did not understand. The Americans did not understand why thousands of men were being killed over there and what was being accomplished for these deaths. The Vietnam War dragged out from 1960 – 1975 and many young adults was scared about their outcome in the end. The major connection between the Vietnam War and student unrest was that it was the first and only time that there was a military draft. On a young man’s eighteen birthday, he was required to register for the selective service and would be eligible for a draft for two whole years. With casualty rates, increasing every day, these young men had a better chance to be drafted and this scared them even more. There was only one way to have a temporary postpone chance of being selected, if you were attending college. This did not mean that young men that attended college were exempt from the draft but that as soon as they finished college they would be drafted. As young men grew closer and closer to graduation, they realized they were going to have to go to Vietnam and fight. These young men were left with only two options, either they dodge the draft and flee to Canada or they could protest for Congress to end the draft. These young men were scared, running out of options since college is for four years, and the war lasted fifteen years they did not know what to do. Thousands of young men fled to Canada, but the majority of the students...
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...Life of a Vietnam War Veteran “Sorry kids, Mr. Watson will not be able to come in this year and talk to you all about his experience of the Vietnam War. It’s too difficult for him, to express the pain he went through during the war and after”. As Mrs. Harvey explain to all of us y Mr. Watson is unable to make it this year I sat there wondering why. What made it so difficult not only for him but for all Vietnam veterans to share their experiences with other people. And I am writing this paper to find what why it is hard for these veterans to share and also what kind of conditions do they go through when coming back home. I am not completely unaware about Vietnam War veterans. I know a few things about life of a Vietnam veteran. For example, I know that they are usually suffering from some type of mental health issue. Also many of them are afraid having cancer due to Agent Orange. I am aware that they don’t like to share stories of the war to society or even close ones. Most importantly, I recognize that these men are going through many problems due to that war. Janda 2 Although I did have a general knowledge of Vietnam War Veterans, I wanted to further enhance my knowledge of the topic. The greatest way I felt to got more edcucated abouit this subject was to interview James Watson, Vietnam War Veteran. I have never really understood the motivation and necessary of their problems. I wanted to know how Vietnam War Veterans becomes so changed due to the war. The conditions...
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...self confident regarding domestic affairs, which is why he attempted to maintain the idea of the Great Society. However, he was described as being very anxious and fearful regarding foreign affairs, which is part of the reason why he acted to irrationally when making decisions about the war. He let his feelings of insecurity guide his political decisions, which left him concerned mostly with himself without regard to the people or to members of the government. Johnson’s attempt to preserve the Great Society while also trying to win a war against communism in Vietnam lead to decreased approval from the public and the government. Had Johnson thought rationally and accurately informed his advisers and America, he may have been able to maintain some credibility. Johnson’s presidency had the potential to be incredibly successful, as the economy was in a very good position at the start of his time in office, and his relationship with Congress allowed most of his Great Society programs to pass through. Johnson was unable to continue to persuade Congress, maintain a professional reputation among other members in the government, and uphold a trustworthy image to the people during the Vietnam War. These are all key elements of a successful presidency, which Johnson was unable to...
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... The Vietnam War left many scars on the people of the United States and had an even greater effect on the country. The reputation of our country changed as people began to have different views on the government, people’s constitutional rights, and the proper role of the media. The changing of perspectives of the people led to the country being split and angry. The Vietnam War was a fight over the government’s power, the war itself, and the draft for the war. The Truman doctrine was created to make sure the South Vietnamese did not become communist. America began to send in massive amounts of money to Vietnam in hopes that it would not become communist. Vietnam was previously property of the French empire. During World War II the Japanese seized control of Vietnam. The communism of the Vietnamese was meant to be an opposition to the Japanese. France then later tried to take Vietnam back but failed. The United States had sent in money to France but when the Japanese defeated France the United States was forced to send money and military advisors to South Vietnam. By 1960, America sent in troops to Vietnam to fight in a war that eventually led to fifty-eight thousand Americans losing their lives. The subsequent loss on the Vietnamese side was even greater than that. The long standing war ended up costing $150 billion dollars. American intervention began in 1955 when the first military advisors came into power. Many of the government’s agencies became involved in the war at home...
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...Stephanie’s Perspective on the Vietnam War The interviewee’s name is Stephanie Skorka. She is 70 years old and is currently retired. She lives in Chicago and had just graduated college in Chicago during the Vietnam War. The Vietnam War had an impact on her life but it wasn’t as big as it was for other people. The reason she said was the reason for fighting the war was “Because we thought communism was going to spread and we wanted to stop it.” She had mixed feelings about Vietnam. On one hand she wanted to fight because she had family living in Poland under the rule of the communist country, Russia, and knew all of the problems with communism. She knew all the struggles of living under the rule of a communistic government in Poland. Some...
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...War. It is a major problem society faces every day. Throughout history, the United States has been involved in many illustrious wars in and out of the country such as Civil War to Afghanistan War. With respect, the country’s capital, Washington D.C., honors these wars through memorials such as the Vietnam Veterans Memorial and through parks such as the Korean War Memorial Park. One of many wars in which the United States honors is the Vietnam War, a war with heavy outcomes. One of many outcomes of the Vietnam war was Amerasians. Amerasians, or also known as Vietnamese Amerasians, are children of the Vietnam War. They were not labeled towards all children; rather, they were specifically children who had one American parent, who was most likely...
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...Vietnam: A History By : Stanley Karnow | April 4 2012 | This paper is about Vietnam: A History a novel on America’s involvement on the war in Vietnam and the policies and feelings surrounding the war. | Book Report | Works Cited Karnow, Stanley. Vietnam: A History. New York: Penguin, 1997. Print. The Vietnam War was not just of interest to the government but the world took great interest as a whole. It was like trying to figure out a magician’s illusion. Before reading this book I only had vague general knowledge of the Vietnam War and how the conflict transpired. I knew about the communist insurgents, the Gulf of Tonkin, Saigon and Ho Chi Mihn. I knew about Presidents Johnson and Nixon, posttraumatic stress disorder and demonstrations. What I did not fully understand was why. Why were the North Vietnamese so resilient? Why did the US make such poor judgment? Why were we really there? What was Vietnam's history prior to our arrival? “History is an organic process, a continuity of related events, inexorable yet not inevitable.” (pg 11) The roots of America's involvement in Vietnam were nurtured by what Professor Daniel Bell has called America's concept of its own “exceptionalism.” George Berkeley, an Anglican bishop and philosopher stated in 1726 as he departed from England to America, “Westward the course of empire.” The phrase, “manifest destiny”, was coined...
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